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Ohio State football faces tough answers to get the run game working

Vaseline October 27, 2024

You probably have questions after college football’s cash-rich Jeff Bezos scored a 21-17 victory against minimum-wage Nebraska Saturday in the Shoe — a close call that threatened to end Ohio State coach Ryan Day’s 43-game winning streak against unranked teams.

I also have questions. Fortunately, I also have answers.

I call this part of the show “Somebody’s Got Something to Do.”

Let’s get started.

Q: What’s wrong with Ohio State’s offense?

Answer: Can’t run the ball.

Question: How is that possible?

Answer: Subpar recruitment, suspect development and an inability to make enough of an impact in the transfer portal to provide enough depth for the next man up. Add a key injury to left tackle Josh Simmons and voila (French for “It’s a good thing OSU has a passing game.”)

Q: If you’re tailback TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, and you have NFL talent but are running behind a Sun Belt Conference line, what do you think?

Answer (diplomatic version:) “Don’t be too high, be too low in those situations,” Judkins said, explaining his emotions after watching the run game crawl. “Just believe in my teammates. I know those guys will go there and execute.

Maybe someday that will be true, but Saturday’s numbers made that day seem far away. Judkins carried 10 times for 29 yards; Henderson was 10 for 25. Quarterback Will Howard made some late drive extensions with his legs, but still finished with just 14 yards on eight carries. Overall, OSU gained 64 yards for a 2.1 average, the lowest since limping to 62 against Maryland last season. It was only the third time since 2017 that the Buckeyes failed to crack 65 yards on the ground.

Answer (no spin version): Judkins could have taken the handoff, immediately dropped forward and gained nearly as many yards per carry as he did by slogging behind a line that allowed seven tackles for loss, including two sacks. This is a guy who gained 2,725 yards the past two seasons at Mississippi before transferring to OSU, a guy who was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2022.

So when Judkins says, “For our offensive line, it wasn’t our best day,” it’s a polite way of saying we couldn’t go anywhere with the ball. He and Henderson may not be miserable right now, but they can’t be happy.

Q: What did Day have to say about the running game?

Answer: You know when you made a mistake as a kid and your dad said, “I’m disappointed in you?” Well, this is what it felt like.

“We didn’t manage the football,” said Day, clearly unhappy with the result. “We only ran 64 yards. … That’s not good enough. Less than three meters away with Quinshon and TreVeyon, that’s not enough.’

Question: What happened? Details, please.

Answer #1: Let’s face it, this O-line has rarely been great this season. The highlight came against Marshall, when the Buckeyes rushed for 280 yards in two weeks after gaining 273 against Western Michigan. The most impressive performance (203 yards) came against a tough Iowa defense, but OSU failed to break the 200-yard barrier against Akron (170), Michigan State (185) and Oregon (141).

Considering we’re looking at a relatively low bar to begin with — the line would be the weak spot in this offense from the start — it’s no surprise that the run game gets stuck in neutral too often.

Answer No. 2: Nebraska’s defense isn’t exactly that of the 1985 Chicago Bears. Last week against Indiana, the Cornhuskers allowed 215 rushing yards while the Hoosiers averaged 6.5 yards a carry. Something had to have happened for the Buckeyes to succumb so badly in front. And that something was fourth-year tackle Zen Michalski, who struggled to fill in for Simmons. Michalski gave up one sack, got away with a grab that looked like he was trying to tie up a calf instead of blocking a defender, and generally looked lost in his first start.

Day was gracious about Michalski’s performance, explaining that nerves may have contributed to the messiness. The tackle was also helped off the field after an injury in the fourth quarter. There’s no reason to kick someone when he’s down. But Ohio State needs to figure something out quickly with the left side of the line — the right side isn’t a big shock either, but the left side is more of an emergency — or next week’s game at Penn State won’t end well.

Question: What is the solution?

Answer: That’s the $64,000 question, or what linemen make on NIL money these days. Left guard Donovan Jackson moved to left tackle when Michalski went down, while Luke Montgomery took over at left guard. I’m not sure this is an acceptable long-term solution. Moving Donovan, OSU’s best lineman, to another position goes against common sense, but what other choice is there? The Buckeyes have already mixed and matched linemen throughout spring and fall training to find the right combination. It’s probably reached the point where they just have to coach them and hope for the best.

Question: Is their best good enough?

Answer: I don’t know. And if you’re an Ohio State fan, that’s the scariest reaction of all.

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@rollerCD